Smart911 assists first responders in Boone County

Boone County emergency officials receive 210 emergency calls per day, on average. Some of those calls come from people who are in compromising situations and can't speak for themselves.

Often, 911 operators can have a challenging time informing first responders of the callers information, including name, location, and allergies.

Credit PMC1stPix / flickr

Smart911 is a program used by Boone County since 2011. It helps emergency operators find out information about callers. Citizens of counties who use this program can sign up on Smart911.com for free.

The information used by the program can be as extensive as the applicant wants; some only put their name, address, and phone number, while others put everything down to their pets' names and veterinarians.

Brian Maydwell is the Operations Manager for Joint Communications. He says this program has helped with caller location problems. "If you dial from a cell phone, most people think we can zero in exactly where you're located with a cell phone, and it's really more of an average area of where the cell phone companies are providing us GPS, and triangulation information from where you're at," he said. "However, if that triangulation information matches with the information you've typed in to Smart911, we could send a response to there."

Boone County officials encourage citizens, especially college students who are from out of the area, to sign up for this service to allow quick response times, and to give them the best care possible.